Legal & General's recent withdrawal from the offsite housing market is a wake-up call for policy makers relying on institutions to fund ambitious infrastructure plans, says Simon Rawlinson of Arcadis
Legal & General announced its withdrawal from the UK offsite housing market last week. They will still continue to develop housing in collaboration with public and private sector partners but, from now on, delivery of their complete programme will be based on third-party supply chains rather than an in-house MMC capability.
By contrast, both Ilke Homes and Top Hat have recently announced successful rounds of refinancing worth over £170 million and Vistry will be reopening its previously mothballed housing factory in Leicestershire. The drip-feed of good news demonstrates that there is a continued investor and client interest in MMC solutions for housing, even as costs of finance balloon.
